5 Tips for Throwing a Fun Party with Both Kids and Adults

Throwing a great party is a challenge, and it can be even more daunting when the guest list includes both adults and kids. To help, we asked Top 25 mom bloggers who are veteran party planners to share their best tips for putting on a party that's fun for everyone, from your toddler to your grandmother. The ideas that follow cover party planning, activities, and food — everything you need to throw a multigenerational party that everyone will enjoy.

1. Build Around a Theme That's General

“Themes make it easier. If you have a theme (be it holiday, season, event or topic) it's so much simpler to plan. Keeping it non-age and non-gender specific (such as tropical or beach in summer or snow or igloo in winter) is the key.” – Shera of A Frog in My Soup

2. Keep the Food Simple

“The first thing to do is make the food potluck style. We provide the main meal, which we cater so no one is spending their time at a grill. Everyone else brings a contribution.” - Brena Burke of Almost The Truth

“Bake kid and adult-friendly foods. When I have the whole family over no matter what we are eating for dinner I always bake up macaroni and cheese for the kids.” - Jenn Farr of Kitchen Counter Chronicles

“Whenever we have a family friendly party (for kids and adults) I always make sure to have lots of crafts and games set out for the kids to enjoy. For the adults we play music, appropriate for all ages of course.” - Elizabeth Jacob of Yellow Finch Designs.

“For the kids some ideas might be to set up a movie room, snack table, computer games and activities, jumpy castle, maybe pony rides, face painting, balloon animals, clown or fairy and some music. For the adults maybe music, board games, adult snack table, drinks, plenty of nice comfy chairs for some chats and laughs.” - Melanie Graham of A Welcoming Hearth

“We arrange our house to provide a space where the adults can socialize and a separate area for kids to play. We also set up some crafts and activities in the kids' space to keep them occupied and it worked great. This keeps everyone happy and prevents things from getting too chaotic." - Erica of Healthy Life Lessons

4. Include a Babysitter

“The simplest tip I can give for having a party in which adults and kids all feel like they're having fun is to spend a little extra and hire a couple of trusted babysitters.” - XLMIC of Taking it On.

"If children are occupied, having fun and being looked after properly, then moms and dads can relax and enjoy some adult company and conversation." -Melanie Graham of A Welcoming Hearth

“In addition the emotional factor of having all the generations gathered at the festivities, it can also be helpful having grandma around to play games with the kids and make sure nobody gets into trouble. “ – Unknown Mami at Unknown Mami